Tri-City Americans

The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City Americans' flagship radio station 870 AM KFLD, and each game can also be heard streaming live at KFLD's UStream Channel, as well as occasionally being telecast on Saturday nights on KVEW 42.2. The Tri-City Americans have also been featured in the television series Z Nation episode "Day One". History The Tri-City Americans franchise is an original franchise of the WHL. They began in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes before being renamed the "Centennials" after one season. The franchise was also known as the "Billings Bighorns" from 1977 to 1982 before relocating to Nanaimo, British Columbia, as the Nanaimo Islanders. After one season, they moved to New Westminster, British Columbia, to become the second incarnation of the New Westminster Bruins. They moved to the Tri-Cities in 1988. The Americans enjoyed local support until early 2000, the start of four owners in four years, all wanting to relocate the team to Canada. Between selling off team assets, lack of on-ice success, and one owner banning the local newspaper columnist from attending games, the attendance dropped considerably. Although the ownership group represented by Darryl Porter had stated upon purchasing the team that they would create a local presence, Porter had still not moved to the Tri-Cities in his third year of ownership. In 2004, Porter attempted to move the team to Chilliwack, British Columbia. However, other Western Hockey League teams voted to prevent the move, including all four other American teams as well as two Canadian teams. Shortly after this failure, the team was sold to Tri-Cities natives, including former Americans' players Olaf Kolzig, the former goalie for the Washington Capitals, and Stu Barnes of the Dallas Stars. Since the sale, the team has doubled attendance figures and won the first division championship in team history. Porter and his investment group were later granted the Chilliwack Bruins as an expansion franchise. On November 29, 1989, Americans goaltender Olaf Kolzig became the first goalie to register a WHL goal when he successfully shot on an empty net against the Seattle Thunderbirds.